Unexpected
by QueranAislinn
Summary: There's a new Dark Lord, and it's the least expected person.


He had never expected to have to meet another Dark Lord in her life time. A hundred years had yet to pass, yet another had already risen but if they had believed Voldemort to be bad with his insane Death Eaters, this one was worse.

The rumours of Voldemort's inferi army had been just that, _rumours_. This Dark Lord had been seen summoning a horde of inferi in the middle of an attack, his first, without a second thought. That had caused an incredible amount of fear within the Wizarding World as the news had spread like wildfire, especially after he had declared himself to be a Dark Lord.

The Prophet had a field day as they attempted to deduce the possible people who could have become a Dark Lord, but there was no one in particular who stood out, and that was all the more worrying. The Dark Lord seemed to have several supporters, after all, but no one knew whom.

There was no rhyme or rhythm to the attacks. They all seemed fairly random, with no particular house or type of person being attacked and killed. The only reason they suspected the Dark Lord of killing the person, because there were never any witnesses nor anyone else who was killed, was the threatening sign that seemed nearly identical to the one some could find in the fairytale 'The Three Brothers.' Although, some said that the sign was similar to Grindelwald's, which wasn't any more reassuring.

Everyone had turned to Potter, the only living defeater of a Dark Lord only to remember that he had disappeared years ago, tired of being constantly bombarded by the public. No one had heard from him ever since, although there were occasional rumours of him being spotted in various places. Very few people had believed the rumours at first, they didn' t need him, after all, so he could have his well-deserved break.

No one expected the break to last years, and there seemed to be no indication of him ever returning. Harry had left alone, and had not contacted any of his friends since, or so they said. No one could tell whether that was the truth or a lie, but none of them seemed worried about him and rarely mentioned him which had caused mixed feelings towards the group. They showed no intention of actively seeking Potter out even now when he was needed.

Even he could understand the desire to take a break from all of this, but not coming back was rather irresponsible on Potter's part. Blaise wondered if Potter was really going to watch the world he once saved be destroyed by another mad man whose agenda was known to no one. At least Voldemort had been open with his desire to change the way the Ministry was run, and generally take over. Only one Ministry official had died so far, and that one had been replaced within a couple of days.

The slow beginning of this Dark Lord was making everyone wary, as it meant that the person had a plan and an idea of exactly what the consequences would be. Somewhat like the other Dark Lord that most of his house had served, only less ruthless and more cunning.

This, what they were feeling now, was fear. It was the awful fear of not knowing what could come next. That was the fear that caused true panic and chaos. It made people lose their minds and the control they held over themselves, and this Dark Lord seemed to be taking advantage of that to cause the chaos instead of doing it himself.

It was fairly clever, and extremely Slytherin except Blaise knew that it was none of the Slytherins as they had all been closely watched ever since the last war despite the fact that it had been _Potter_ of all people who had advocated against them being closely watched. It was _always_ Potter, or as Draco had always called him _Saint Potter_. Even he hadn't managed to stop them though, especially after he disappeared.

It was almost as if the Wizarding World had considered his opinion on the matter unimportant. Blaise wondered if that was part of the reason that Harry had left. He knew that he wouldn't like to think that he was only a person to be used when he was needed and then thrown away like a broken toy. That was possibly a reason that Potter had yet to return, or was simply lying low wherever he was. Blaise knew he would be doing the same if it were him, but Potter was a Gryffindor and Gryffindors never did that. Slytherins did.

Besides, Blaise doubted any of Potter's friends would support him doing that anyway. They were a group of do-gooders who would never simply stand by while other people were in danger. They had proved that all through Hogwarts, and he doubted anyone could change that much but ,if they hadn't contacted Potter yet, then they must have.

"Blaise," Draco called, "what are you thinking about?"

"The new 'Dark Lord' and Potter's lack of appearance," Blaise replied. It often crept up as a topic of conversations between them as they had known Potter and his friends more closely than many others. They knew that this lack of concern was highly out of character for the 'golden' Gryffindors.

"Who knows what Potter could be up to? For all we know, Potter could be dead. There hasn't been any sort of sign or mention of him since he disappeared. I think most people are simply writing him off as dead anyway," Draco said leaning back.

"I doubt that. He was the one who defied death twice. It seems kind of impossible that he could die naturally after that."

"Potter lived to defy impossible, you have to remember that. Think of the most impossible thing you could possibly expect of him, and that would probably be what the reality is."

"I suppose I'll be expecting the new Dark Lord to be Potter then," Blaise said sighing.

"Don't be ridiculous. He's a Gryffindor. Those have never become Dark Lords."

Blaise only smirked from behind his glass at Draco's flabbergasted expression. That was, after all, the most ridiculous thing either of them had ever heard, which was exactly what Draco had just told him to expect.

"Don't worry, the two of you seemed to have made up somewhat despite your rivalry during Hogwarts. No one risks their life for someone just to kill them later," Blaise joked.

"Yeah, right." Draco rolled his eyes, "Still, I wonder on this Dark Lord's purpose."

"It could be anything. There isn't a point wondering just yet. We'll find out soon enough," Blaise sighed, leaning back slightly.

Draco only nodded in response.

Only a week later, Blaise and Draco entered the Ministry on a seemingly dull Monday morning to realise that the halls of the Ministry seemed to have changed overnight. The old familiarity that showed the witches' and wizards' superiority over the creature had disappeared, leaving pristine walls in their wake.

Exchanging startled glances, the two ventured further into the Ministry to find out exactly what was going on but every step they took only lead to them being more mystified than they already were. The changes were fairly subtle, and generally things that were minor changed but all together it rendered the Ministry nearly unrecognisable.

Or maybe that was only how it felt to them, Slytherins, as the entire atmosphere had taken on a different feel from the usual one and it was simply their self-preservation that was kicking in. They wouldn't want their pasts to haunt them or their families, after all.

Knowing that their best bet, after passing through their own offices to check if they had any messages of any sort, was probably the Minister's office they rerouted to ensure that was their unspoken destination. The laughter that came from the office was highly unusual, and also served to confirm their suspicions of the change in the Ministry's management. The current Minister was, perhaps, a bit too serious.

"I can't believe no one even noticed!"

Blaise noticed Draco frowning as he heard that voice. The voice sounded familiar even to Blaise, but he couldn't quite place the voice on a person.

"Well, they aren't quite well-known for their intelligence."

"Or any, for that matter. The lot of useless sheep."

Now the last voice was one Blaise definitely recognised, and by Draco's raised eyebrows so did he. Draco edged closer to the door and pushed it lightly open, confirming both of their suspicions and completely crushing the lack of belief they previously held in at the possibility.

"Malfoy, Zabini, I see you've noticed the difference," the voice called out with an almost laughing tone.

"Potter? Weasley? Granger?" Draco spluttered, before regaining his composure as Blaise elbowed him.

"Good to know you still recognise me after all these years," Potter replied with amusement as he watched the two carefully.

"Ridiculous, you said…" Blaise muttered.

"Shut up."

**AN: The Test (Challenge): A new Dark Lord has risen: Mystery**


End file.
